A watste picker on a dumpsite./PHOTO; Courtesy
At Dandora Dumpsite in Nairobi, Duncan Njoroge has survived for 16 years in an environment he describes as “not safe for living.”
“My name is Duncan Njoroge. I am a waste picker at Dandora Dumpsite, where I have lived for more than a decade. It is a miracle that I am still alive,” he says.
Duncan began living at the dumpsite after his mother died. With no support system, he ended up at Dandora, where he survives in makeshift shelters built from nylon papers and pieces of wood, surrounded by piles of plastic waste, household refuse, and scrap metal.
“There is a lot of waste here: plastics, household waste, metal,” he explains. “Plastic that is not useful is usually burned, and we inhale the smoke.”
The plastic waste that burns daily at Dandora is not just an environmental nuisance.
Under the Bamako Convention, waste containing toxic substances that pose risks to human health and the environment qualifies as hazardous waste.
When plastics are burned, they release hazardous chemicals, including dioxins, furans, and heavy metals, exposing waste pickers and nearby communities to serious health risks.
“This environment is not safe for living,” Duncan says.
Life at the dumpsite is harsh. When it rains, those living there are soaked. Waste pickers, most of them women, struggle to support themselves and their families, earning barely enough to survive.
Children who have dropped out of school also scavenge through the waste.
“There was a time I had tuberculosis (TB),” Duncan recalls. “It is by God’s grace that I am still alive.”
Duncan has no medical insurance and relies on occasional first aid from volunteer nurses and well-wishers.
Protective gear such as gloves, gumboots, or masks is largely unavailable, and those who have them use worn-out equipment. Persistent coughing, chest infections, cuts, and untreated wounds are common.
“We live and survive on this dumpsite,” he says.
Plastic Waste and Public Health in Informal Settlements
Plastic pollution poses severe public health risks, particularly in informal settlements where waste is improperly disposed of or openly burned.
The burning of plastics releases toxic chemicals into the air, exposing communities to substances linked to cancer, respiratory disease, reproductive and neurological harm, and developmental challenges in children.
In many African cities, including Nairobi, these exposures occur in the absence of adequate waste management systems and effective enforcement of hazardous waste controls.
This raises critical questions about hazardous waste governance and the effectiveness of protections envisioned under the Bamako Convention, a regional agreement designed to prevent hazardous waste dumping and protect human health across the continent.
The Bamako Convention defines hazardous waste as substances that are toxic, poisonous, corrosive, or capable of causing harm to human health and the environment.
Plastics, particularly when burned or mixed with other chemical and industrial waste, release hazardous pollutants that fall within this definition.
In informal dumpsites like Dandora, where waste segregation is absent and open burning is common, plastic waste becomes a significant source of hazardous exposure.
Health Risks on the Ground
For Kevin Muller, a Community Mobile Nurse working with waste pickers in Nairobi particularly at Dandora Dumpsite and informal settlements such as “Kibera, Duncan’s” story reflects a broader public health crisis.
Kevin grew up in Kibera, where he witnessed waste pickers and vulnerable residents suffer injuries and illness without access to healthcare.
“I grew up seeing people fall sick or get injured and continue working because there was no one to help them,” he says.
“Waste pickers were exposed to smoke, sharp objects, and toxic waste every day, yet healthcare was out of reach. That stayed with me.”
He began offering first aid as a volunteer in 2021, assisting people living on the streets and within informal settlements during his spare time.
Even before medical school, he carried a small first aid kit to help anyone in need.
By December 2024, after observing the serious and unmet health needs among waste pickers, Kevin decided to provide full-time voluntary healthcare support, focusing on Dandora, Kibera, and other informal dumping sites across Nairobi.
“The need was overwhelming,” he explains.
“People were suffering silently infected wounds, breathing problems, chronic pain yet no structured healthcare system was reaching them.”
The most common conditions he treats include waterborne diseases such as diarrhoea, amoebiasis, and typhoid; infected wounds caused by sharp metals, broken glass, and needles; sprains, strains, and chronic back pain from heavy lifting; and respiratory conditions such as pneumonia, chronic cough, asthma-like symptoms, and recurrent infections.
Skin conditions, eye problems caused by smoke and chemical fumes, and mental health challenges linked to poverty and unsafe working conditions are also common.
Long-term exposure to waste, smoke, and burning plastics has been associated with irregular menstrual cycles among young women, preterm births, chronic respiratory disease, suspected chest-related cancers, dizziness, nausea, and long-term disability.
Repeated exposure weakens immunity, leading to chronic illness and reduced quality of life.
Most waste pickers lack protective gear.
Many work with bare hands or improvised gloves made from plastic bags, while more than 95 per cent are unvaccinated.
Kevin faces challenges including limited medical supplies, lack of clean water, delayed referrals due to poverty and lack of insurance, and the physical difficulty of reaching patients across large dumping areas.
“The biggest health risk is long-term exposure to toxic waste and smoke, combined with frequent injuries and no protection,” he says.
“Without sustained intervention, lives continue to be shortened.”
Law, Policy, and Accountability
According to Griffins Ochieng, Executive Director of the Centre for Environment Justice and Development (CEJAD), the conditions witnessed at Dandora Dumpsite and other informal dumping sites across Kenya raise serious concerns under regional hazardous waste agreements.
“These agreements, including the Bamako Convention, were created because African countries felt the global Basel Convention was not adequately protecting them from hazardous waste dumping,” Ochieng explains.
“Despite Basel, dumping continued such as the Côte d’Ivoire case prompting Africa to adopt its own regional instrument in Bamako, Mali.”
Countries that ratify these agreements are legally bound to comply with their provisions, including preventing hazardous waste imports, ensuring environmentally sound management, protecting human health, and enforcing national laws to stop illegal dumping.
Kenya, he notes, has ratified the Bamako Convention, making these obligations part of national law.
Kenya has domesticated these commitments through the Environmental Management and Coordination Act (EMCA) and its subsidiary regulations.
While the Sustainable Waste Management Act of 2024 focuses on solid waste such as household and municipal waste, hazardous waste management remains regulated under EMCA, with oversight by NEMA.
“NEMA is responsible for licensing entities that manage hazardous waste and regulating imports through Prior Informed Consent,” Ochieng says.
“Technically, hazardous waste should not end up in informal dumpsites such as Dandora.”
However, the reality on the ground points to a persistent gap between policy and practice.
Hazardous waste continues to mix with municipal waste at dumpsites, exposing waste pickers and surrounding communities to toxic substances despite Kenya’s legal obligations to prevent hazardous exposure and ensure environmentally sound waste management.
Ochieng stresses that closing this gap requires strong collaboration between government, civil society, communities, and the media.
“The health impacts of hazardous waste linked to toxic chemicals such as heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants are well documented,” he says. “Yet communities continue to bear the cost.”
Civil society organizations generate evidence, conduct research, and document exposure to hazardous chemicals.
The media investigates and exposes illegal waste imports and unsafe waste management practices, bringing these issues into public view.
This evidence must be presented to policymakers to inform enforcement actions, policy reviews, and legal reforms.
“For the system to work, every actor has to play their role,” Ochieng says.
“The government must enforce the law, civil society must provide oversight and evidence, communities must report risks, and the media must amplify these issues to drive accountability.”
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